Varnished parquet - Meister or Haro?

Hello everyone,

We are currently at the floor decision stage and have narrowed it down to parquet from Haro and Meister. Since the parquet is to be installed both in the kitchen and in a small guest WC, the carpenter advised us to choose a lacquered parquet. Does anyone have experience as to whether lacquered is better than oiled in this case?

The Haro parquet is coated with a "super matte lacquer" and hardly shines; the structures and indentations of the wood surface are preserved. Here, I am somewhat afraid that these might get clogged with "dirt" and that water might tend to stay in the small grooves. The cleaning and maintenance effort seems higher.
The counterpart from Meister has "only" a "matte lacquer" and shines slightly; however, the surface is almost flat, no grooves, and thus apparently easier to clean and more resistant?

The Haro floor would be available for delivery as usual, Meister only this year; next year the production will be changed and a new "super matte lacquer" will be used. However, we have to order floors now and are torn back and forth. There seem to be reasons why Meister will switch to the "super matte lacquer" starting next year. We are also hesitant to order a floor that will immediately be discontinued from the range - probably irrelevant.

Do you happen to have experience with lacquered floors from both companies?

I have lacquered parquet from Bembé in the condominium. So I don't know if it's the same with Meister or Haro. In any case, it's rather smooth and sealed, so without distinct grooves. It's okay and looks good until it gets a scratch. Then you can hardly do anything about it. The lacquer surface doesn't help against standing water either; the water just seeps in between the slats. Based on my experience, I would now always choose oiled parquet. You can also partially refinish it. It is more natural.

Do you happen to have any experience with painted floors from both companies?

Only with the unpainted version from Haro (now in the third property). Kitchen or similar is no problem. I still find the look "nicer" than painted.

I should perhaps also mention that the parquet will of course be glued down and that it consists of country house planks (2V). Regarding possible repairs, the carpenter told us that whether it is oil or lacquer, neither would look really good. He would rather advise us to choose a floor with the "black knot holes", which can be artificially created later on in case of damage - that makes sense to me. What then is the advantage of lacquered floors? With the super-matte lacquer, Haro tries to achieve the look of oiled floors as much as possible. This works really well, the Haro floor looks much more natural than the Meister.

As the owner of an oiled parquet floor, I completely agree with the opinions of and . Since I bought clearance stock, my personal flooring expert (my nephew) already had to retouch or repair two small spots, which was done without being noticeable. I have some very black knot holes. Hardly imaginable with lacquered products (but of course, these defects would never have been there from the beginning).

I should maybe also mention that the parquet is of course glued down and consists of country house planks (2V).

For the choice between lacquered and unlacquered completely irrelevant.

What is then the advantage of lacquered floors?

It is somewhat more resistant, as the wood is coated with a layer. But it doesn't help to avoid dents - and those look really crappy on lacquered (glossy) parquet. Only oiled always looks more natural, even with dents.